The bleak Demon actuality Aussies should settle for

Before his disappointing second spherical exit from Roland-Garros, Alex de Minaur was knocked out within the quarter-finals at every of the earlier 4 grand slams.

At the 2024 French Open, it was Alex Zverev who knocked him out in straight units. Injury saved him from battling Novak Djokovic subsequent up at Wimbledon, earlier than additional straight units losses to Jack Draper on the US Open after which Jannik Sinner on the Australian Open.

It begs the query – is he nonetheless Australia’s subsequent slam winner? Or is that this nearly as good because it will get for the Demon?

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It may sound harsh, and maybe it’s. But it isn’t meant in a detrimental method. There could be no disgrace in making it to his retirement with no slam win. A overwhelming majority {of professional} gamers by no means will. In reality, since 1877, solely 153 males and 130 girls have gained a grand slam title.

The reality he is made the quarters in all 4 slams is proof de Minaur is a strong all-rounder able to good tennis on all surfaces.

But it is also a sign he is nonetheless not fairly up there and in a position to commonly combine it with the Jannik Sinners and the Carlos Alcaraz’ of the world.

“When he loses … he’s losing to the best players in the world,” Aussie tennis legend Wally Masur informed Wide World of Sports forward of Wimbledon.

“Alcaraz and Sinner have sort of set themselves a little bit apart from the tour. I’m sure they’re beatable, but they’re sharing these major finals between them so they sort of stand alone to a degree. Then there’s a a pack behind them, and Demon is certainly in that pack.”

On his strongest floor, de Minaur will start his Wimbledon marketing campaign in opposition to Spaniard Robert Carballes Baena on Tuesday evening (AEST).

‘He’s not afraid of exhausting work’

Masur is aware of higher than most what de Minaur is able to. He’s identified him and adopted his profession since he was 12.

He has watched him break by means of glass ceiling after glass ceiling – every at one level seemed impenetrable. But can he break by means of this one, on high of that are perched a gangly red-headed Italian and a Spaniard with bulging biceps? Is it even potential?

That’s to not recommend he’d be a disappointment or his profession could be missing ought to he not carry a slam trophy. Demon will little doubt be remembered as among the best Australia has ever produced, and somebody who personifies the Aussie combating spirit.

But Sinner and Alcaraz are on one other degree. He’s by no means crushed both of them, and barely come shut. He’s 0-10 in opposition to Sinner and 0-4 in opposition to Alcaraz. While he pinched a set off the Spaniard within the Rotterdam last in February, he hasn’t gained one in opposition to the Italian since 2022.

Masur mentioned it is troublesome to say whether or not or not de Minaur is able to profitable a slam, however in admitting he’d been responsible of writing off Federer and Agassi too early just for them to come back again and win one other slam, he may need instructed he is not anticipating de Minaur to seek out himself in that place.

“Crystal balling … I’ve known Demon since he was about 12 years of age. I’ve seen the progression and he just keeps improving. He keeps getting better,” he mentioned.

“I don’t want to put a level on him. He’s willing and he’s not afraid of hard work so anything is possible.

“We had the massive 4 in males’s tennis – Novak remains to be round in fact – and there isn’t any query that Sinner and Alcaraz have taken the attributes of all the nice champions of the previous, and so they’re including a little bit (additional). Each new champion brings one thing to the sport.

“It is a challenge to match Sinner and Alcaraz, particularly over five sets, but I think that’s a challenge that Demon’s willing to accept.

“Make no mistake – making the highest 10 is a big effort in a really worldwide sport. But to make the highest 5 … you really need to be attending to grand slam finals.”

‘That’s the struggle for him’

Masur explained the concept of ‘easy power’. It’s something both Sinner and Alcaraz both possess, as do the likes of Novak Djokovic, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Lorenzo Musetti.

De Minaur does not, and he’s lost to all of those names in the last 12 months.

“Some gamers simply have straightforward energy, and it’s totally robust to play in opposition to,” Masur said.

“So even once they’re not enjoying significantly nicely, they could have a large serve or the power to generate heaps of tempo off the forehand, no matter that may be.

“Demon … competes hard, he concentrates well. He’s got great endurance. He doesn’t miss much. He takes the ball on the rise. He can volley, he can drop shot. There’s this array of skills that he puts together to kind of diffuse his opponents.

“But the Alcaraz forehand, Sinner off the bottom, Novak at full stretch, Ben Shelton serve, Musetti’s only a larger, stronger man.

“There’s players out there with easy power. I think that’s the struggle for him at times.

“He’s crushed top-five gamers – he is crushed (Daniil) Medvedev a few occasions – so he can do it, however the problem, in fact, is to do it persistently and that is a large ask.”

De Minaur arrives at Wimbledon fresh from a break. He’s barely played since the French Open. There’s barely any down time in modern tennis. He said he needed the break to “give (himself) the prospect to overlook the game once more”.

“I felt like I had been occurring for some time,” he told Stan Sport.

“It was positively a lot, a lot wanted. I simply had a little bit little bit of a standard life – I performed plenty of golf, I loved my time right here in London and I had an excellent prep.

“Going into this Wimbledon, I wanted to make sure the body was fit and I was mentally ready to go. So here we are now and I’m very excited to get started.”

De Minaur was compelled to withdraw from his quarter last in opposition to Novak Djokovic with a hip harm, which might ultimately hold him out of the Paris Olympics too. Despite the disappointing finish, he was nonetheless in a position to come away from the event with a renewed confidence on grass.

“I can definitely play well here at Wimbledon. I’ve played well over the last couple of years. It’s a surface that suits me, so I draw a lot of confidence from that,” he mentioned.

“Going into this year, I’d just like to take things slow and just be ready for the first round. I’m excited to to get going and hopefully the tennis can play along and I can be here for a while.”

The grass courts of the All-England Club have historically been a cheerful searching floor for the Demon. In his first predominant draw look there in 2018, he made it to the third spherical.

Grass additionally performs to his strengths. Masur defined his serve, which skids on, is among the causes it is his strongest floor.

“He doesn’t hit with a lot of top spin like the other players do,” he mentioned.

“He’s pretty linear. He likes to meet the ball early. He likes to take it on the rise. It’s a bit harder to do that on clay, but it’s easy to do that on hard court and grass.

“He’s such a fantastic mover, and to maneuver nicely on grass is big, and he definitely can. And his serve, in case you consider some gamers, they have a very heavy serve … they hit it with plenty of spin, it hits the courtroom, it kicks up, bounces excessive. Demon’s is a little more direct. He’s bought fairly a little bit of a dart for a serve. It’s fairly direct, fairly penetrating.

“When he’s serving well, he says very close to the lines and that serve doesn’t get up, it stays low. So that provides some problems for the returners, particularly on grass.”

De Minaur is main the 17-strong Australian contingent at Wimbledon, the most important Aussie cost since 1995.

He may meet Novak Djokovic within the fourth spherical.